I'm leaving for a weeklong vacation; this is the first time I'm heading out of town since setting up grow lights for my plants. I have them on for 16 hours a day currently, but wondering if I should lower that number while I'm away so my plants don't dry out too quickly? But also not sure if that will make a significant difference? Any advice for getting plants ready before going away (about adjusting grow lights or otherwise) is appreciated!
Well, ideally you’d have someone come in and check on them at least once while you’re gone. But since it’s winter, you can lower the temperature a bit, which will keep them moist for a bit longer and save energy to boot. I think 16h is a lot for winter anyway—so feel free to dial that down to maybe 10h as well. This advice may not apply to certain plants that are more active in the winter, though.
3 J'aime I do have someone staying to take care of my cats, actually! But I have dozens of houseplants and my sitter knows more about cats than plants, so I'm trying to minimize the burden on them. Appreciate your response, will dial the hours down!
1 j'aime Well, if you’re like me, you have some plants that will survive the nuclear winter with the cockroaches, and some that wilt if you look at them sideways. Maybe take 2-3 of the latter and say, water these three once midweek?
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With your current timer how often are you watering? If it’s more than once a week I’d decrease it to 10-12 and you can always bump it back up. I try to coordinate my waterings so I water the day before I leave. So somethings get watered a bit early but then nobody has to worry about watering!
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It wouldn't make a difference unlessthe lights are close enough to cause heat. I don't adjust mine if I'm leaving. The only time i would is the greenhouse it's summer and already hot, as it gets up to 79 in there all by itself. And I'll water the moisture lovers before I leave
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I'd pop that grow light down to 10-12 hours, for no other reason than giving them a winter break. I keep shorter light times from the fall equinox to the spring. I have my pet sitter as a caregiver on this app. I can leave notes on certain plants (how far down the stick needs to be dry to water) and so far we've all survived several long weekends away and 10 days out of state!
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